In 1958, at the tender age of 28, Jean Marc Ekoh a member of USDG (opposition) was Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the first government council of Gabon that was led by Leon Mba Minko who was Prime Minister and leader of BDG and 55 years old. Jean Marc Ekoh was a trained school teacher who played an important role in Gabonese politics around the years of independence until Omar Bongo came to power. He has been a witness to numerous iterations of Gabonese politics since independence. In a recent interview in the newspaper "Echos du Nord", he gave his opinion on the project by the Singaporean firm OLAM and the Gabonese government, to develop rubber plantation in the region of Woleu-Ntem. This is a highly controversial project given the sordid story of rubber plantation in Africa and elsewhere. The article containing the interview is translated from French to English below.

A few weeks ago, the Gabonese government and the Singaporean group OLAM announced a partnership on an investment of 91.5 billion CFA francs for the production of rubber. For this purpose, the launch in 2013 of a plantation of 28,000 hectares (which will then be increased to 50 000 hectares) is expected as well as the building of a processing plant in the province of Woleu-Ntem.

In addition to the opacity surrounding the conditions of acquisition of land by the Asian developer, the populations of Bitam – the intended location for the exploitation of rubber trees - are questioning the impact that such a project could have on the local ecosystem and their own health.Among the reactions of these compatriots, we selected the one of Jean-Marc Ekoh, former Assistant Commissioner for Planning, former Minister and, especially, "a child of the Ntem Valley."

• You seem very angry against the project of deployment of the company Olam in Woleu-Ntem?

Jean-Marc Ekoh: Angry, yes! But I would not yield to the temptation to expound on the philanthropic impulses animating these newcomers from the international piracy that I have known since 1954, however, I cannot keep quiet about the tragicomedy of the excessive looting our country is experiencing.

Is it not sickening, indeed, to witness the media excitement about the charismatic pseudo-intent of OLAM, which aims to be able to promote "mega-industries" in the few populated areas of Gabon; areas of traditional slash and burn cultivation, irrigated by the Ntem in the north, for example? In its philanthropic apostleship, is OLAM, which makes a mockery of current humanitarian concerns in safeguarding the ecosystem, ignoring that the law in Singapore, their country, does not allow any foreigner to acquire a square meter of island territory? Therefore, it is inhuman that Gabon will continue to let itself be dispossessed with the complicity of men and women that are mandated to ensure its legitimate interests and those of its people.

• This project, however, according to statements by a Minister of Gabon, would benefit local people in that it would generate thousands of jobs, which is not negligible in the current context ...

Jean-Marc Ekoh: You know this is not the only nonsense I heard about it. I am told that OLAM would also identify the chimpanzees of Menyo'o. All I could tell them was that they had better go restock the millions of Malaysia primates millions exterminated by them in the rubber plantations of Kuala Lumpur!

As for the famous jobs that were announced, I would like, for the timid hacks which, although crumbling under the weight of real or fake diplomas, harass us with their inflationary and ignorant use of the slogan "Emerging Gabon", recall some historical accounts. Around 1942, the Governor General Felix Eboue, when he decided to ban the use of intensive plantations of cocoa, coffee, oil palm and rubber, said: "The work (not employment) is noble in itself, but the cultivation must belong to the indigenous people and settlers would have to buy produce to growers".

So, what is expected by people is, not jobs, but work! I can assure you that after these pronouncements by Felix Eboue, we then witnessed the emergence of "real" elite of millionaire planters, not to be confused with the workers who could be exploited at will. For me, the argument of the alleged job creation is simply not acceptable, especially when one considers the negative consequences resulting from this project. Instead of trying to strip us of our lands, OLAM could invest its 91 billion FCFA also in road infrastructure, for example.

• In so vigorously denouncing this OLAM project, do you not run the risk of seeing your reaction described as unpatriotic?

Jean-Marc Ekoh: Do not make me laugh! What patriotism are we talking about? That of the griots who use public media to try to make the Gabonese people believe that they live in a paradisiacal republic emerging through OLAM? Let's be serious!Is to be patriotic to speak of national integration in a country devoid of merchant vessels harboring the national flag at the docks of Gabon's only port of Owendo?

Is it to accept in silence to live in a country where there are just little bits of roads that are usable or paved, and a railway of about 800 km which does not serve any urban area?

Is it to close our eyes to the indecent spectacle of these health centers, once modern, which have become death houses? What about those universities, high schools and colleges which are now fire ranges where sometimes, students fall under the bullets of the military, victims of the educational deficiencies they share with their teachers who are on strike almost permanently?Or these village huts, permanent theaters for a population of festive revelers moving their seismic hips as they welcome passing political figures?

For me, the real unpatriotic reaction is the one which, when faced with these questions, answers: "what else could we do? This is the system!"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

While the Gabonese people dream and contemplate, while they wait for events to be imposed upon them; those who really know what our country represents for their piggy bank, are preparing to impose upon us Noureddine Bongo at the head of the country. The same people who swore they would never accept that Ali Bongo become president of Gabon, are once again ready to capitulate to what is obviously a progression towards the induction of Noureddine Bongo to replace his father Ali. Noureddine has just been replaced quietly at his deputy general manager’s position at Olam, without a new official position being assigned to him. Our informants say that following the resignation of the Issozet-Ngondet government, the king of Morocco, Mborantsuo and the French advisors, will develop a succession platform within the political apparatus of the country, allowing Noureddine to have a boulevard leading to the post of president . Meanwhile, they will have to silence all those like Jean Pin…

English version The deal between France and the US about the succession in Gabon Dear readers, we have submitted to our contacts, the reading of the visit made by the French and American ambassadors, to Marie Madeleine Mborantsuo, the President of the Gabonese Constitutional Court. Here is their opinion. 1. This visit was a demonstration that with regard to their African policies, France and the US have resolutely made a deal to help each other in their respective squares of influence. 2. France helped the USA in Libya, and the USA helped France in Mali. France plunders Francophone Central Africa, when the US does the same with the Great Lakes region through Rwanda. 3. France allows the USA to settle militarily in Cameroon and Gabon by having periodical war games with the forces of these countries; in response the USA asks their Rwandan and Ugandan pupils to normalize their relations with France. It's a give and take. 4. But why did these ambassadors visit Mborantsuo? Because for these…